Hot Potatoes

Two hours later Gongsun Liang reached a region in the desert where sandstorms occurred frequently, so he removed the boys from the hidden compartment. He abandoned the wagon then put the boys in a farm basket on the horse.

Two days later Gongsun Liang stopped outside a small town in the desert where he was going to meet Wen Chao; the help sent by the Order to quicken the mission.

As he stood by his horse, a middle-aged man in blue walked to him.

Wen Chao walked up to Gongsun Liang with a token that had the character for number one on one side and 'sss' on the other. "Brother Gongsun I'm Wen Chao, im here to help". Wen Chao said.

Gongsun Liang sized up the man before him. He had sharp cold eyes, a high nose ridge and pale skin accompanied with a head of black hair that fell shortly below his ears. Gongsun Liang nodded his head at Wen Chao " senior brother Wen the mission said we should take one boy to Wind Demon Realm and the other to Great Han Continent, so which will you choose?" Gongsun Liang questioned

Wen Chao sighed " Little brother just leave Wind Demon Realm to me" he said as he patted Gongsun Liang's shoulder. Gongsun Liang mounted his horse then strapped one boy to his chest then passed the basket to Wen Chao, he nodded solemnly at Wen Chao as he rode off eastward from the town.

Wen Chao watched as Gongsun liang rode into the distance, then he narrowed his eyes and smiled " little brother you can't blame me they paid too much hehe". Then took the basket with him into the small town called Willow Oasis.

Willow Oasis was a hub for the three kingdoms, northwards was Wind Demon Realm, southward was Azure Cloud Continent, eastward was Great Han Continent where Gongsun Liang went and westward was deeper into the monarch desert.Wen Chao patted the pouch at his waist as he thought 'I will be going to Wind Demon Realm, but before that lets have a good meal'. Then he walked into a restaurant with the basket.

.......

' one day ago somewhere on the monarch desert '

Wen Chao hastily made his way to a black tent pitched ahead. On getting inside he saw three men dressed in black, the one with the most sinister and overbearing aura was seated in the centre with a few papers on the table he was staring at. Wen Chao felt apprehensive, although he was an inside man for Dark Fang, he had only submitted to them to save his life after being caught two years ago. Plus he had never really met them face to face since the first encounter. As Wen Chao waited before the men, the man in the middle lifted his head to stare fiercely at Wen Chao.

Wen Chao quickly stepped forward and cupped his fist "senior Mo Sheng i have traced the boys path to willow oasis, I'll meet him there and put the tracing bug on him".

Mo Sheng nodded nonchalantly." You may go". He said with a voice that carried authority. Then he took a pouch from the table and tossed it to Wen Chao, " thats ten percent of thetotal sum". Wen Chao thanked him repeatedly then left.

.......

'Back to present day'.

The western region of Great Han Continent which faced the monarch desert was full of grassy plains. As Gongsun Liang rode through he often had to take detours because there were some patrol teams which guarded the border against bandits and demonic cultivators.

After he separated from Wen Chao two days ago he had been riding non stop and he could finally see the outline of a city up ahead, although it was still very far ahead there was a forest region surrounding the city. He took out a map, 'that should be Fallen Peaches city' he thought as he advanced until he was not too far away from the forestry. Right at that moment he could feel like he was being watched again, then he could feel two strong auras fast approaching.

Gongsun Liang looked forward and backward at the two men covered in black who blocked his advance and retreat. "Who are you?, what do you want?" Gongsun Liang questioned.

"Hehe, for a young master from Azure cloud city you don't look intimidated like the other's would be" the man ahead said with a hoarse voice.

"Hmph!" Gongsun Liang snorted.

"Just give the boy to us and we'll let you go" the man behind added.

"You wish" Gongsun Liang retorted coldly as he leaped at the one before him. At the same time, the man behind charged at Gongsun Liang's horse and struck its hind leg, it cried out then lay down.

As the man watched Gongsun Liang charge at him he stopped restraining the aura on his cultivation and let it burst forth.

Gongsun Liang felt the aura of someone at the second stage of the martial mortal realm, he immediately became alert.

Gongsun Liang and the man in black took out weapons at the same time as they clashed repeatedly,"dang! dang! dang!". Gongsun Liang was using a pair of curved daggers but his movements and maneuvers were restricted because of the little human strapped to his chest, but from this brief exchange he quickly concluded that the man's true strength was a far cry from his dense bloody aura.

The man quickly put some distance between himself and Gongsun Liang as the hand that gripped his sword was still trembling. He realized that he would not be a match for Gongsun Liang in a one on one fight. 'Such a relief that im not fighting him alone'. "You may be strong but do you really think you can escape from us on foot?, that would be a little too naive dont you think?" The man mockingly asked Gongsun Liang.

Gongsun Liang nodded as he looked to his left and right, " oh, you must be thinking you have pretty much figured me out, but that is a very naive thought. How can someone who was raised in Azure cloud city be capable of only this much?" Gongsun Liang said as the aura he gave off became more subtle and ethereal.

The two men from dark fang immediately had alert looks on their faces. They slowly approached him from his left and right sides.

Gongsun Liang took a deep breath, he felt really nervous.' This technique can't be used casually but I dont have a choice if I must leave this place quickly'. Gongsun Liang thought to himself as he mumbled to himself "Clones and Shadows".

Immediately he dashed toward the forest region and as he moved his figure left behind blurry afterimages that slowly faded away.

The two men had been slowly approaching Gongsun Liang but just as they wer only a few metres away from him he immediately dashed for the trees. The two men immediately gave chase and they inched closer by the second because Gongsun Liang was trying to be as steady as possible because although the baby boys were administered sleeping pills, it had already been about five days and the effects were wearing off.

Gongsun Liang noticed as the two men approached from both sides and he swiftly turned left, now heading directly for one of the advancing cultivators. He had left behind an afterimage when taking the sharp bend, but unlike the other afterimages that faded in the wind this particular one turned right and aggressively dashed towards the other cultivator.

The two men were shocked but they were experienced killers so they reacted quickly and immediately drew their weapons to meet head on.

The man facing Gongsun Liang's shadow-clone was in a bit of a predicament, his hand was still not steady after the last clash. All the shadow-clone's attacks were aggressive and extremely forceful that all the man could do was parry and retreat. He noticed that the clone was made entirely of Gongsun Liang's Qi, even the daggers were made of extremely condensed qi. The man was shocked by his discovery but that was not the main source of his weariness because if it was just that he could have just side stepped and the clone would keep attacking air. He had also noticed that the clone seemed to almost have its own consciousness and it made him scared to a point of steady retreat. All its attacks were aimed at vital spots.

The other man facing Gongsun Liang himself was initially feeling confident because after putting down Gongsun Liang's horse he wasn't informed of Gongsun Liang's true strength by the other man who clashed with him. Gongsun Liang chargd at the man and attacked,"Dang! Dang!". The man retreated a step as he was taken by surprise. But Gongsun Liang did not give him any breathing space and continued his furious charge the man felt his hands tremble and as the fight went on he noticed that Gongsun Liang's hands became faster and faster until he could no longer judge the trajectory of the next attack until it was a little too close." Dang! Dang!! Slash!" The man finally recieved a deep cut on his left arm.

...

At this time the man facing Gongsun Liang's shadow-clone noticed that the power of its attacks was on a decline.' Just as i thought, it must eventually disperse in air, it is impossible for him to maintain this level of condensed qi for long at his cultivation level' he silently thought. He finally got some breathing space as he watched the clone slowly crumble. He looked up to check his partner's condition, both of them were in a division called Vipers Scales. He was number 47 and his partner was 46. Their relationship was just as close as brotherhood, they had been raised together by Dark Fang since childhood.

Immediately 47 looked up he was stunned for a second, he saw Gongsun Liang running into the forest and his partner collapse to his knees looking bloodied and battered. Although he was quite a distance away due to his constant retreat, he saw it all clearly. 47 ran towards 46, by the time he got there Gongsun Liang was long gone and 46 fainted after letting out two words "get help"